Daniel Robert Jansen (born April 15, 1995) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

for the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB).

Professional career

Minor leagues

Jansen attended

Appleton West High School Appleton West High School (or AWHS, formerly known as Appleton Senior High School or Appleton High School) is a comprehensive public secondary school located in Appleton, Wisconsin that serves students in the ninth through twelfth grades. The ...

Appleton, Wisconsin Appleton ( mez, Ahkōnemeh) is a city in Outagamie, Calumet, and Winnebago counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. One of the Fox Cities, it is situated on the Fox River, southwest of Green Bay and north of Milwaukee. Appleton is the c ...

, and was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 16th round of the

2013 Major League Baseball draft The 2013 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2013. The first two rounds were broadcast from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. Each team received one selection per round, going in ...

. He had committed to play

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

Jacksonville University Jacksonville University (JU) is a private university in Jacksonville, Florida. Located in the city's Arlington district, the school was founded in 1934 as a two-year college and was known as Jacksonville Junior College until September 5, 1956, ...

, but signed with the Blue Jays instead. He was assigned to the Rookie-level

Gulf Coast League Blue Jays The Florida Complex League Blue Jays are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Blue Jays. The team plays i ...

for the season, appearing in 36 games and hitting .246 with 18

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

(RBI). He showed above-average plate discipline that season,

walking Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an ' inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults ...

21 times while

striking out ''Striking Out'' is an Irish television legal drama series, broadcast on RTÉ, that first aired on 1 January 2017. Produced by Bl!nder F!lms for RTÉ Television, ''Striking Out'' stars Amy Huberman as Dublin-based solicitor Tara Rafferty, who is ...

only 10 times. In 2014, Jansen was promoted to the Rookie Advanced

Bluefield Blue Jays The Bluefield Blue Jays were a minor league baseball team of the Rookie Appalachian League representing the twin cities of Bluefield, West Virginia, and Bluefield, Virginia. The team played their home games at Bowen Field at Peters Park, a hist ...

. In 38 games, he batted .282 with five home runs and 17 RBI. Jansen was assigned to the Class-A

Lansing Lugnuts The Lansing Lugnuts are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. They are located in Lansing, Michigan, and play their home games at Jackson Field. The Midwest League came to Lans ...

in 2015, but spent more than half the season on the disabled list. After a seven-game rehab stint in the Gulf Coast League, Jansen rejoined the Lugnuts in August. In 53 total games, he hit .210 with five home runs and 30 RBI. Jansen was invited to Major League spring training on January 12, 2016, and reassigned to minor league camp on March 12. He was assigned to the Advanced-A

Dunedin Blue Jays The Dunedin Blue Jays are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and are the Single-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays Major League Baseball club. They are located in Dunedin, Florida, and play their home games at TD Ballpar ...

for the 2016 minor league season. In 57 total games, Jansen hit .218 with one home run and 25 RBI in 2016. After the 2016 season, the Blue Jays assigned Jansen to the

Mesa Solar Sox The Mesa Solar Sox are a baseball team that plays in the East Division of the Arizona Fall League. They play their home games in Mesa, Arizona, at Sloan Park, which is also the spring training facility of the Chicago Cubs. The team was established ...

of the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season sports league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during the autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are fille ...

. He appeared in 20 games for the Sox and hit .282 with 11 RBI and the first two triples of his professional career. Prior to the start of the 2017 season, Jansen found he was having vision problems, and began wearing

glasses Glasses, also known as eyeglasses or spectacles, are vision eyewear, with lenses (clear or tinted) mounted in a frame that holds them in front of a person's eyes, typically utilizing a bridge over the nose and hinged arms (known as temples ...

on and off the field. The glasses paid immediate dividends, as Jansen hit .369 with five home runs and 18 RBI in 31 games for Dunedin before being promoted to the Double-A

New Hampshire Fisher Cats The New Hampshire Fisher Cats are a Minor League Baseball team based in Manchester, New Hampshire. The team, which plays in the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays major league club. During the team's first seaso ...

. He played in 52 games for New Hampshire and hit .291 before being promoted to the Triple-A

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen ...

in August. With Buffalo, Jansen hit .328 with three home runs and 10 RBI in 21 games. On November 20, 2017, Jansen was added to Toronto's 40-man roster. Heading into the 2018 season, Jansen was named the eighth-best catching prospect by MLB. He played in the All-Star Futures Game in July, during which he hit a home run.

Toronto Blue Jays

The Blue Jays promoted Jansen to the major leagues on August 12, 2018. He made his debut the following night, recording two singles in a 3–1 loss to the Kansas City Royals. He and

Sean Reid-Foley Sean Ian Reid-Foley (born August 30, 1995) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the New York Mets organization. He was selected in the second round of the 2014 Major League Baseball draft by the Toronto Blue Jays and made his debut wi ...

became the first batterymates to debut in the same

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

game since Billy Rohr and

Russ Gibson John Russell Gibson (May 6, 1939 – July 27, 2008) was an American professional baseball catcher who played for the Boston Red Sox and San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1967 and 1972. Listed at and , he batted and threw ...

did so in April 1967. Jansen hit his first major league home run on August 14 off Royals pitcher Heath Fillmyer, breaking a 3–3 tie in a game the Blue Jays would end up winning 6–5. He finished the season hitting .247 in 31 games. Overall with the 2020 Blue Jays, Jansen batted .182 with six home runs and 20 RBIs in 43 games. During Game 2 of the AL Wild Card Series against the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home v ...

, Jansen became the second Blue Jays player in franchise history with a multi-home run game in the post-season. The 2021 season saw Jansen playing 70 games, splitting playing time with catcher Reese McGuire. Jansen spent time on the injured list in July and August with a right hamstring strain, but returned to the lineup to play the last 21 games of the season with a .322 batting average and 7 home runs. Jansen's 2022 season began strong before a left oblique injury in April sidelined him for over a month. On June 6, Jansen was again placed on the IL after suffering a fracture in his left pinky finger after being hit by a 96mph pitch during a game against the Kansas City Royals. On July 22, 2022, the Blue Jays set a franchise record for runs scored in a game with a 28-5 win over the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and since 1953, its only Major League Bas ...

. Jansen hit 2 home runs over the

Green Monster The Green Monster is a popular nickname for the left field wall at Fenway Park, home to the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball. The wall is from home plate and is a popular target for right-handed hitters. Overview The wall was part ...

in left field, scored 4 times, and contributed 6 RBIs. On January 13, 2023, Jansen signed a one-year, $3.5 million contract with the Blue Jays, avoiding salary arbitration.

Personal life

Jansen is the younger son of parents Steve and Kathy. His older brother is Matthew. In his youth, Jansen's family hosted players for the then-

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

Class-A affiliate

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Grand Chute, Wisconsin, a town on the outskirts of Appleton in the Fox Cities, and are na ...

. In 2004, Adam Jones was housed by the Jansen family. Jansen and his wife Alexis were married in March 2022 with former teammate

Rowdy Tellez Ryan John "Rowdy" Tellez ( ; born March 16, 1995) is an American professional baseball first baseman for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the Toronto Blue Jays. In 2013, Tellez was both a '' ...

as the officiant.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jansen, Danny 1995 births American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball players from Illinois Bluefield Blue Jays players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Dunedin Blue Jays players Gulf Coast Blue Jays players Lansing Lugnuts players Living people Major League Baseball catchers Mesa Solar Sox players New Hampshire Fisher Cats players People from Elmhurst, Illinois Toronto Blue Jays players